Ghana is one of only several African countries to enact legislation and earmark financing for universal health insurance coverage for its entire population. Seven years into its implementation the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has made significant progress in transitioning to universal coverage, but faces significant fiscal and coverage challenges. This study reviews Ghana's health financing system with a special emphasis on its National Health Insurance Scheme. Such an assessment is important because Ghana is often considered a global 'good practice' in terms of earmarking...

The goals of universal health coverage (UHC) are to ensure that all people can access quality health services, to safeguard all people from public health risks, and to protect all people from impoverishment due to illness, whether from out-of-pocket payments for health care or loss of income when a household member falls sick. Countries as diverse as Brazil, France, Japan, Thailand, and Turkey have shown how UHC can serve as vital mechanisms for improving the health and welfare of their citizens, and lay the foundation for economic growth and competitiveness grounded in the principles of...

La CSU a pour objectifs de s'assurer que tous peuvent avoir acces a des services de sante de qualite, de preserver l'ensemble des individus contre les risques a la sante publique et de proteger toutes les personnes contre l'appauvrissement attribuable a la maladie. Des pays aussi divers que le Bresil, la France, le Japon, la Thailande et la Turquie ont reussi a mettre en oeuvre la CSU et illustrent comment ces programmes peuvent a la fois agir en tant que dispositifs essentiels d'amelioration de la sante et du bien-etre de leurs citoyens et mettre en place les fondations d'une croissance...

Las metas de la cobertura universal de salud son asegurar que todas las personas puedan tener acceso a los servicios de salud de calidad, proteger a todas las personas de los riesgos para la salud publica y del empobrecimiento debido a enfermedad, ya sea por pagos directos por atencion sanitaria 0 por perdida de ingresos cuando un miembro de la familia se enferma. Paises tan diversos como Brasil, Francia, Japan, Tailandia y Turquia han mostrado como la cobertura universal de salud puede servir como un mecanisma vital para mejorar la salud. Garantizar el acceso universal a los servicios de...

The global movement toward universal health coverage (UHC) is accompanied by requests for large increases in government health spending in some countries. This combined with the global economic situation and stagnant economic growth across many low- and middle-income countries make it more critical than ever to place health financing discussions firmly in the context of macroeconomic and fiscal realities. Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect in decision making, with key fiscal decisions made in the absence of a clear understanding on the one hand of the potential consequences for the...